ECRF Genetics Core Team Away Day – Sarah McCafferty
22nd of February 2018.
A day that will long live in the memories of the ECRF genetics core team. A day we downed pipettes, left the lab and headed out for a day of team building.
The day started in 50 George Square, where we had a meeting room booked for the mornings activities. First off core manager Lee Murphy presented on our metrics from last year (e.g. number of extractions, sequencing runs, publications and more!) After catching up on last year’s progress it was time for a team activity. Lee had worked his way around the room taping A4 sheets to everyone’s back and then all was revealed. Our activity was to write something (complementary!) about each of our colleagues on their piece of paper. Lee explained that it can be hard to think positively about ourselves and only see the negative and that we all brought something unique to our team. Five minutes later; all of us bearing 10 compliments from the rest of the team it was time for a coffee break. Suitably caffeinated, deputy manager Angie Fawkes took over to give us an update on the new lab management software that is being developed by the ECRF IT and Genetics cores. (Our not at all biased view is it looks brilliant and we can’t wait to start using it!) We finished off with a look at what the next year and beyond may hold in store before our final exercise. We all had to say something we were proud of achieving in the last year, and also something that we had problems with or foresaw challenges with in the coming year. It is not possible to cover everything in one day so the challenges that we identified will form the basis of issues we will tackle over the coming months.
The Genetics Core team discussing achievements and potential challenges
Formalities out of the way it was off to Colonnades at the Signet Library on the royal mile to meet Prof. Tim Aitman, one of our core directors and Dr. Shona Kerr, our deputy director. Lunch was delicious and accompanied by spectacular surroundings.
Obligatory Food Photo
Lots of chat and a couple of team photos later it was time to rush off the National Museum for a tour. Starting at some models of DNA (very appropriate) including a model made by Francis Crick when visiting Edinburgh, we worked our way past some incredible exhibits with amazing back-stories, including but not nearly limited to: a lens from a Stevenson family built lighthouse, a boat-like feast bowl from the Cook Islands, and a few of the Lewis Chessmen.)
Models of DNA at the National Museum of Scotland. Including model made by Francis Crick (Bottom Right)
Another stop on our tour brought us to Dolly the Sheep; who is conveniently located near a display on miniaturisation in genetic technology which Lee had helped source a few different objects for, including some different array chips and a minIon sequencer. Obviously this presented Lee with a fantastic opportunity to explain a bit about the work we do, and give a bit more detail about some of the objects in this display.
Lee giving a bit of background to the miniaturisation in genetic technology display
An hour later and our tour finished we thanked our guide, and finally it was time for the pub. Off we trotted along Chamber’s street to our final (and highly anticipated) venue of the day, the PUB! (Lee’s round obviously!)
Sarah McCafferty is a Research Technician in the ECRF Genetics core, primarily working in sample processing. She is passionate about science communication and the development of technical staff, spends too much time looking at cat gifs and can be found on twitter @ScienceSaz
A version of this blog will also be available at Edinburgh CRF.
Don’t forget to look at Sarah’s other excellent blog, reflecting upon her experience at the Standing Up For Science workshop.
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